Chapter 3:
With The Brothers:
Later that evening Martin sat outside watching as the sun began to set. He couldn't stop thinking of the Sutton's, none of it made any sense! Why would they willingly help Stone? The more he thought of the sisters, the more he found himself smiling at the memory of Emily! In the middle of a war with Stone, Martin shouldn't be falling for the enemy, but he couldn't help it! She was so pretty with her long, blond hair, blue eyes and her…no! He began scolding himself for acting like a hormonal teenager! There was too much at stake right now for him to be losing sight of the situation. They needed to prove to the sisters they were telling the truth, but how when neither would listen?
As Martin fought with himself, Chris sat on his bed in their room also having a battle within himself. He had spent the last 10 minutes trying and failing to keep his mind focused on figuring out a plan, but his thoughts always seemed to settle on Lainey! This had never happened before; no girl had ever gotten into his head like this! That was Martin's thing, Chris was the more responsible brother, so why was this pretty brown haired, brown-eyed girl different? He got up and began to pace reminding himself that the life of an innocent animal was at stake, they needed a plan and they needed it fast!
Three Days Later:
Three days later still without a plan, the brothers were out tracking another pride hoping that they'd finally find the white lion, so they could protect him! Neither brother had told the other of their crush on the sisters, and they hoped it wouldn't affect their vow to keep the lion safe!
Meanwhile, not far from the Kratt brothers, the sisters were tracking their own pride. Both still had mixed feelings about the situation, and neither told the other about their crush on the brothers! Both hoped that it wouldn't affect their promise to keep the lion safe!
As the brothers came out of the tall grass, Martin in the lead, Chris behind him, Martin turned his head to look back at his brother.
"I think they went this way Martin!" Chris said when his brother turned to him.
"I don't know Chris, maybe they…"
"Martin! Look out!" Chris yelled cutting Martin off, spotting the two people in front of him.
"Huh?" Martin asked confused as he turned just in time to run into Emily, causing them to fall, she landed on Martin.
"What the…YOU!" Emily yelled angrily pushing off Martin, Lainey helped her up.
"Sorry, I didn't see you!" Martin apologized as Chris helped him up.
"What were you doing in the grass anyway?" Lainey asked.
"Why?" Martin demanded defensively.
"She just asked a question, no need for attitude!" Emily said.
"Alright, fine! Okay, I have a question of my own! What were you doing just standing there?" Martin asked crossing his arms.
"Nice try Kratt!" Emily answered smirking as she stepped closer. "You're after the lion aren't you?"
"So are you! We won't let you capture it for Stone!" Martin said, as he got closer to her.
"You aren't getting anywhere near that lion as long as we're around!" Emily replied getting closer to him until they were toe to toe.
While their siblings fought, Chris and Lainey stayed quiet giving each other dirty looks. Suddenly behind Martin and Emily the grass began to move, both Chris and Lainey saw it and became concerned for the safety of their oblivious siblings. They looked at each other as the animal came closer, they tried calling Martin and Emily's names, but neither heard them. Unable to do nothing any longer as the animal continued getting closer Chris and Lainey grabbed their sibling's arms and drug them to a rock. Once behind the safety of the rock Martin and Emily looked at their younger siblings confused as Martin spoke.
"What is wrong with you two?" Martin demanded.
"Look!" Lainey said pointing to the grass; all four were quiet so the animal wouldn't know they were there. "Whatever it is it's big!"
"I think I see something!" Martin said.
"The white lion!" All four said together smiling, as they watched the biggest, most powerful lion; complete with white coat and mane come into the clearing.
"He's incredible!" Emily said her eyes never leaving the lion.
"He's even more beautiful than I imagined!" Martin added.
"This is awesome! He doesn't know we're here!" Chris noticed smiling.
"You…you aren't going to try and capture him?" Lainey asked confused.
"Nope!" Chris answered as both brothers watched the lion.
"We only want to study King, and keep him safe from Stone!" Martin added.
"Wait, who's King?" Emily asked.
"Him!" Martin answered pointing at the lion. "Lion's are the king's of the beasts, and he's the biggest, most powerful lion I've ever seen, so I named him King!"
"You named him?" Lainey asked smiling.
"Oh yeah, he name's every animal we meet!" Chris explained smiling too.
The four of them watched King for what seemed like forever, all of them smiling. If King knew they were there he didn't care, as he lay sleeping peacefully in the mid-day sun. Suddenly, King stood tensely and turned his ears towards a noise only he could hear, before he took off disappearing once again into the tall grass. The four siblings didn't like how King left, knowing it meant trouble and if a beast like King was bothered enough to leave it meant they should too! Quietly they left the cover of the rock and began running in the direction King went, knowing that way was safe at least! After running for a while with no sign of whatever spooked King, they decided to stop and rest.
"That was amazing!" Emily said smiling.
"He was so incredible!" Lainey added.
"That was so awesome!" Chris agreed. "I guess we proved to you that we really are the good guys?"
"Uh, not quite!" Emily answered.
"What?" Both brothers said together.
"King was right there, and we didn't even try to capture him!" Martin added annoyed.
"That proves nothing! You weren't ready and we were with you!" Lainey explained.
"This…this is insane! What do we have to do to prove it to you?" Martin demanded.
"I have an idea…we're all going back to the Tortuga!" Chris said smiling.
"We're going to do what?" Martin asked confused. "Chris, did you hit your head? They work for Stone, we can't take them to the Tortuga they'll tell him where it is!"
"Do you have a better idea bro?" Chris asked.
"No, but…I'm going to regret this, I know it!" Martin said giving in.
"Whoa, we aren't going anywhere with you!" Emily refused, Lainey agreed.
"Look, you want proof we are who we say we are, this is the only way we can do that!"
"Like we're really going to trust bad guys!" Lainey said.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but…please trust us and let us show you we're telling the truth?" Martin said through clenched teeth.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but…fine, let's go!" Emily agreed.
Later:
A half hour later the four of them pulled up to the Tortuga and parked, the sisters were shocked to see a large, flying turtle ship, Lainey spoke as they got out.
"This is your ship?"
"Yep! Welcome to the Tortuga!" Chris said smiling proudly, as the girls starred at the ship.
"Come on we'll introduce you to everyone." Martin said as they all went inside.
"Hey, you're back…and you brought company!" Aviva said surprised as she looked at Koki and Jimmy. "Welcome, I'm Aviva, and this is Jimmy and Koki!"
"Thanks, I'm Emily and this is my sister Lainey." She said smiling.
"Any luck with the search?" Koki asked as they all sat.
"Not at first, but we finally found him!" Chris said smiling at the memory.
"Really? That's awesome!" Jimmy said smiling.
"He was incredible guys! The biggest, most powerful lion we've ever seen! I named him King!" Martin said smiling.
The sisters spent time talking to the team getting to know all five, and found themselves liking them. Which only made them more confused knowing what Stone and Carter had told them. If that wasn't bad enough, their feelings towards the brothers also grew! They weren't the only ones fighting a losing battle, the brothers were too as their feelings for the sisters also got stronger! After talking for a while the brothers took the girls on a tour of the ship, they ended up somehow breaking off into pairs; Martin and Emily, Chris and Lainey. As Martin and Emily walked outside they decided to stop by a little watering hole and dip their feet into it. Being this close to each other, alone was difficult for both, neither spoke afraid of saying something to reveal their feelings. Emily looked at Martin, he met her eyes and they smiled, she brushed some hair behind her ear never breaking eye contact with him. Not trusting himself Martin looked away and spoke breaking the silence.
"It's getting late, you should head back before Stone or Carter come looking for you." He said as they put their shoes back on, he stood offering his hand to help her up.
"You're right." She answered quietly taking his hand and stood, but slipped he caught her before she fell.
"You okay?" He asked looking into her eyes.
"I'm fine, thanks." She answered starring back into his eyes.
"Umm…we should…we should go." Martin said pulling away nervously.
"Yeah, let's go." Emily agreed.
Meanwhile Chris and Lainey decided to stay close to the Tortuga, so they walked around outside. Being alone was hard on both, neither sure they could keep their feelings secret! As they walked their hands brushed against each other, both jumped a little at the contact, blushing. They smiled at each other shyly, Chris rubbed the back of his neck he didn't trust himself, he needed a distraction, so he looked around.
"How would you like to see the Savannah from a giraffe's point of view?" Chris asked seeing a large tree in front of them.
"Excuse me?" Lainey asked smiling.
"Wanna climb a tree with me?" He asked smiling as he pointed to the tree.
"Oh, sure. I love climbing, race you!" She said running towards the tree, Chris right behind her.
They made it to the tree and began climbing; soon they sat side by side on a branch taking in the view in silence. After a few minutes Lainey knew she couldn't be near him any longer without revealing her feelings, so she spoke.
"It's late; Emily and I should really go before Stone sends Carter to find us."
"Okay, let's go." Chris agreed as they began climbing down with him in the lead, he reached the ground first, as Lainey was almost down she slipped. "I got ya!" He said smiling as he caught her. "You okay?"
"I' am, thanks." She replied starring into his eyes.
"Good. Come on let's find Martin and Emily." Chris said putting her down gently.
"Let's go." Lainey agreed.
TBC…